John 21: You're Not Cooked, Let Him Cook

Introduction

"Sometimes the miracle you need is only one step away." With these words Steven Furtick opens his sermon. He adds right away: "You say: it's over for me. God says: it's not over, you just need a correction."

The title of the message comes down to one word: Cooked. In casual English, this word has two opposite meanings. When you tell someone "You cooked today," you are paying a compliment: you nailed it, you gave it everything. But "You're cooked" means something else entirely: you're done for, it's over for you. The French would say "je suis cuit." "Same word, two meanings," the pastor sums up. He gives a simple example: you have an exam in an hour, you have not studied at all, and you tell yourself you are cooked. And he jokes that praying at that moment will not replace studying.

Then he moves on to heavier situations, the ones where you truly tell yourself it is too late: "Too late for me to be set free from this addiction, my father had it, my grandfather too, and I pushed away the people who helped me the first time." Or: "I'm 63, it's too late, I've passed the point of no return." Or: "It's their fault, it's my fault, whatever: how do I move forward by faith now?"

Before entering the text, Steven Furtick expresses his joy at being back in the pulpit and his gratitude for the diversity of the church gathered that day: some are walking through the deepest valley, others are on a mountaintop, some are going gray like him, and a hundred students were dancing during worship. It is to all of them that he reads John 21, the story of a man who thought he was cooked, and of a Lord who had already lit the fire.

Message outline

1. Disoriented, but together: Peter goes back to fishing

The text opens with a list of names: "Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together" (John 21:2). The pastor has fun with Thomas's nickname, then describes the group: disoriented, torn, in the middle of a transition, but together.
Peter announces: "I'm going fishing" (John 21:3). For Steven Furtick, the man Jesus had called Peter becomes Simon again. He goes back to his old trade, to what he knows how to do.
The paradox is striking: the resurrection has already happened, the tomb is empty, and yet for Peter there is still no solution. His future is blurry, he ruined his reputation by denying Jesus, and he even seems to have lost his touch as a fisherman, since he fishes all night and catches nothing.
He goes back to the same Sea of Galilee, where Jesus first found him. In Luke 5, Jesus had taught the crowd from Simon's boat, then told him: "Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch" (Luke 5:4).
That night, they catch nothing. In the morning, Jesus stands on the shore. They do not recognize him. He calls out to them: "Children" (John 21:5).

2. Disoriented, but called

Steven Furtick's first point comes down to a sentence he has the congregation repeat: "I'm disoriented, but I'm called. It's complicated, but I'm called."
He speaks of first love and of "the joy of your salvation," echoing David's prayer: "Restore to me the joy of your salvation" (Psalm 51:12).
He tells what he said to some young musicians heading out on tour: remember the prayer you prayed as kids, when you asked God to use you to lead people to worship him. Because the fatigue will come, and the friction, and the smelly feet on the bus. On that day, you will need to remember why you left.
His conviction: perseverance rests on the calling, and the calling rests on grace. "How do I keep going when I'm cooked? Because I'm called."
When God called Peter, he also called Simon. He knew everything about him, his impulses and his weaknesses. When Jesus called him the Rock, he already knew what was going to happen. "Peter was shocked by his denial. Christ was not."

3. Not the wrong sea, the wrong side

Jesus tells the disciples: "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some" (John 21:6). They can no longer haul it in because it is so full. Verse 11 specifies: one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Between verse 5 and verse 6, the result changes completely, and yet the difference comes down to a tiny detail. "Sometimes the miracle you need is only one adjustment away."
The pastor highlights what Jesus did not say. He did not say: "You're on the wrong sea, there are no fish here." He said: cast it on the other side. From empty nets to full nets, without changing lakes.
"Our problem is that we want the catch without the correction." You are not cooked, but you will need a correction: doing things differently, adjusting your attitude, simply admitting "I could have said that better."
His formula: "It's not the sea, it's the side I was fishing from that emptied my nets."

4. Let him cook

Steven Furtick announces that this third point is the heart of his sermon. The disciples come in with the boat, behind Peter, whom he humorously describes as a leader who does not know where he is going.
On the shore, a surprise: "they saw a fire of coals there, with fish and bread laid on it" (John 21:9). "What they had tried to catch all night, Jesus had already cooked."
This is where the wordplay of the title takes on its full meaning. The disciples thought they were cooked, but Jesus was the one cooking. "You're excited about the fishing. I'm excited about the cook. I'm not here because I'm a good fisherman, but because he's a good cook. My message in a nutshell: let him cook." In your life, in your family, in your situation.
He confesses: "I was so absorbed with the fish in the net that I didn't see the fish on the fire." The weight of the nets can keep us from seeing what God has already prepared.
He then unrolls a litany of gratitude: he cooked when we could not, when the bills piled up, when the doctor said there was no way out, when I was alone, when my friends let me down. He also declares, freely taking up the promise of Isaiah 54:17 and applying it to his family: "No weapon formed against my family will prosper."

5. "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught"

Jesus says: "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught" (John 21:10). He does not need it, the fish is already on the fire. But he is good and generous: he gives them credit, he honors them.
The pastor compares this to a parent looking at their child's drawing: they do not need it, but they proudly put it on the fridge.
He called you friend, he taught you to fish, he showed you where the fish were. He helped you find that person, seize that opportunity, get through that transition. "I'm not here because of what I caught." He does not need what we bring him: he simply wants all of who we are.
The purpose of this passage, according to him: to free you from stress and shame, and to place your expectations for the future in Jesus's hands.
Then comes the invitation: "Come and eat." And "none of the disciples dared to ask him, 'Who are you?' knowing that it was the Lord" (John 21:12).

6. Two coal fires: failure and future

Steven Furtick goes back to the night of Jesus's trial, in John 18. In the courtyard, the servant girl asks Peter: "You aren't also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He answers: "I am not" (John 18:17).
It is cold, and the servants have made a fire to warm themselves. Peter is standing with them (John 18:18).
The pastor points out that the Greek word anthrakia, a charcoal fire, appears only twice in John's Gospel: in John 18:18 and in John 21:9. Many English versions translate it with the same expression both times, "a fire of coals."
The first fire represents Peter's failure. The second carries fish and represents his future. God wants to change the way you look at that fire: at what you have been through, at what you have done and cannot undo.
Jesus's message to Peter, which the pastor repeats several times: "I'm not finished with you. You're more than a failed fisherman."

Key takeaways

You may feel cooked, finished, and yet it is not over: God speaks of a correction, not an ending.
Your perseverance does not rest on your performance but on your calling, and your calling rests on grace.
When Jesus called Peter, he already knew Simon. Your failure may surprise you, but it does not surprise Christ.
The problem is not always the sea, sometimes it is the side you are fishing from. A small adjustment can change everything.
Before the disciples even arrived, the fish was already on the fire. Jesus has already prepared what you need.
The fire of your failure is not the last fire of your story. Jesus can light the fire of your future.

Personal application

Identify the area where you tell yourself "I'm cooked." Name it before God, simply, without justifying yourself.
Remember your calling. Think back to the prayer you prayed at the start of your walk with God, and ask him to restore the joy of his salvation to you.
Look for the correction rather than a change of scenery. Which attitude, which word, which habit is God inviting you to adjust?
Take a moment to make your own list: when did he cook for you while you could do nothing? Thank him for every memory.
Accept the invitation "Come and eat." Lay down the shame of your past and entrust your expectations for the future to him.

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does the title "Cooked" mean in this sermon?

In casual English, "You cooked" is a compliment (you nailed it), while "You're cooked" means you are done for, finished. Steven Furtick plays on both meanings: you think you are cooked, but in John 21 it is Jesus who is cooking for you.

Why does Peter go back to fishing in John 21?

After denying Jesus, Peter no longer knows where he stands. The resurrection has happened, but he has not yet found a solution for his own life. So he goes back to what he knows how to do, on the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus first called him.

What is the link between the fire in John 18 and the fire in John 21?

The Greek word for a charcoal fire appears only twice in John's Gospel. The first fire is the one in the courtyard where Peter denies Jesus. The second is the one on the shore where Jesus prepares a meal for him. For Steven Furtick, the first represents Peter's failure, the second his future.